Temperature regulator



July 7,1931. J. G. HELMSTAEDTER ET AL 1,813,401

TEMPERATURE REGULATOR Filed May 16, 1928 a a, A .A 1, RR

www e1 ATTORNEYS.

Patented July 7, 1931 Joint a. HELMSTAEIDTER AND FREDERICK J. SCHILLING, or

- NEW JERSEY NEWARK,

TEMPERATURE" Application filed May 16,1928. Serial No. 278,149.

This invention relates to that class of temperature regulators which are employed in connection with hot water,- tanks or other devices heated by steam and which are adapted to regulate the supply of steam according to the temperature in the tank or other device.

Obviously other heating media than steam can be employed and the tank serve to heat other fluids than water, as is common in the art. I I

The objects of the invention are to secure an improved regulator and more particularly one which shall be auxiliary operated; to secure a regulator of great sensitiveness, especially at high pressures, and one whose parts will not chatter or move abruptly; to secure a regulator which will be of compact construction and easily applied; to obtain a regulator which shall not only regulate the amount of steam supplied to the heating element, but which also regulates the pressure of said steam, and to obtain other advantages mounted in said steam pipe and through which the steam flows in the direction shown by the arrows. The partition 3 of said valve ed by a seat having a valve 4 adapted to open and close the port to regulate the flow ofsteam as is broadly common and well-known in the art. This valve 4 is carried by a stem 5 secured to a diaphragm 6 arranged in a diaphragm chamber 7 above the valve casing 2. The said valve stem 5 is guided by a partition 8 at the lower part of the diaphragm chamber, which is perforated as at 0 9 for the passage of steam, and between said cham provides at its entering side a-port surround-- partition 8 and valve .4 is a spring 10 normally acting to seat the valve.

In a boss 100 upon the top of the upper half of the diaphragm chamber 7 is a seat 11 for an auxiliary valve 12 which has a stem 13 projecting through an stufling box 14 and opens with the pressure in the diaphragm er, which in operation is the inlet pressure to the main valve 2. A spring 15 around said auxiliary valve 12 normally'unco seats the valve and holds it open, as shown, and preferably a'guide extension16 on the ,valve 12 projects into thepassage 17 of the seat 11 to hold the valve aligned while permitting flow through said passage. This 05 provides an outlet from the diaphragm chamher 7, which is controlled by the auxiliary valve 12, extends laterally, as at '31, through the side of the boss 100, and preferably is continued as at 33 to the steam ipe 1 at a point nearer the hot water tanii than the valve-casing 2, which is of course the delivery or low pressure side of the main valve 4.

A U-shaped bracket 18 is secured upon the top of the boss 100 on the diaphragm chamber 7 above the auxiliary valve 12 as by screws 19, 19 and its upwardly extending arms 20, 20 receive the corresponding arms 21, 21

of a cap 22 in the upper part of which is mounted a bellows expansion unit 23. Beneath said expansion unit is a central support 24 upon the top of a rod 25 which works slidably through the center piece 26 of a bridge plate 27 carried by the cage formed by the U-shaped bracket 18 and the cap-22,. for example resting upon the upper ends of the arms 20, 20 as shown. Between said center piece 26 and the support 24 is a spring 28 arranged around the rod 25 and tending to force the support upward to collapse the expansion unit 23, and in order to adjust the tension of this spring said center piece 26 is made adjustable up and down by screwing in a seat in the bridge. The interior of the expansion unit 23 communicates through an elbow 29 with a flexible tube 30 which leads to a thermosensitive member B withinthe hot water tank and which contains ether vapor or the like for greater sensitiveness, as is common in the art and understood by those skilledtherein.

In the position of parts shown in the drawings the main steam valve 4 is closed to cut off steam from the hot water tank and prevent the temperature in said tank from getting too hot. Assuming that the temperature has just droppedbelow that at which it is desired to keep the contents ofthe hot water .tank, the ether vapor in the thermostatic member, flexible tube 30 and expansion unit 23 has contracted and allowed said expansion unit 23 to collapse, assisted by the spring 28;

' this has permitted the auxiliary valve 12 to open by virtue of the spring 15 and accumulated inlet pressure above the diaphragm 6,

and steam from the upper part of the diaphragm chamber escapes through the lateral 2 through the apertures 9, 9 in the guide piece 8 beneath the diaphragm, since the aperture or leak-port 32 in the diaphragm-is too I small for the pressure above the diaphragm 6 to become equal to that below when the auxiliary valve is open. This will force the diaphragm 6 upward and open the valve 4 to admit steam to the heating unit of the water tank.

When the temperature of the water in the tank has risen to the desired degree, the ether vapor in the thermostatic bulb, flexible tube 30 and expansion unit 23 has expanded sufficiently to expand the said unit 23 and force the rod 25 downward to seat the auxiliary valve 12. This seating causes the steam pressure above the diaphragm 6 to equalize with that below the diaphragm 6 and the spring 10 thereupon closes the valve 4 again.

It will be noted that in operation our auxiliary valve opens with the pressure in the diaphragm chamber and is closed against the pressure therein, and this secures a very steady and even movement of the said auxiliary valve, free from chattering and abruptness. The spring 15 also acts with the said pressures, and especially at high pressures a very even and sensitive action is secured.

Preferably we place in the portion 33 of the outlet leading from the auxiliary valve.

12 to the main steam pipe 1 a pressure regulator which serves to reduce to any desired extent the pressure of steam admitted through pipe 1 to the hot water tank, this pressure regulator working in the following manner when the auxiliary valve 12 is open to permit flow of steam through the pipe 14 into the hot water tank. Said steam of course also backs up through the outlet 33 and into the chamber 34 of the pressure regulator. where if its pressure is too high it will be exerted through apertures 35, 35

upon the underside of a diaphragm 36 arranged transversely of. a. stirrup 37 which is mounted to slide up and down in suitable upper and lower bearings 38, 39 and having at its lower part a seat 40 to close against a nozzle 41, the passage of which leads outward from the chamber 34 to the horizontal portion of the portion 33 of the outlet extending to the auxiliary valve 12 of the regulator.

If the steam being admitted to the hbt water tank exerts too great a pressure upon the diaphragm 36 it will force the same upward against the spring 42, which can be set to any desired tension by the adjusting screw 43, and this will raise the stirrup 3 to reduce or cutoii flow through the nozzle 41. Obviously as this flow is reduced, it increases the pressure above the main diaphragm 6 'so that it more nearly counterbalances the pressure beneath said diaphragm and permits the main valve 4 to more nearly close. If the seat 40 of the pressure regulator closes against the nozzle 41 it produces the same effect as the closing of the auxiliary valve 12 by temperature of the tank becoming high enough, and the pressure above and below the main diaphragm 6 equalizes so that the spring 10 closes the main valve entirely. I

In its more complete form, therefore, our improved regulator not only regulates the at a desired temperature, but also regulates pressure of the steam, or cuts down the pressure at which steam is supplied, to the pressure at which it is desired to enter the hot water tank. At the same time either the temperature regulation or the pressure regulation can be adjusted each independent of the other, the former by regulating the closing of the auxiliary valve 12, as by means of its spring 28, and the latter by regulating the closing of its nozzle 41 by means of the spring 42.

While we have illustrated our invention as applied to the supply of steam to a hot water tank to heat the same, it will be understood that the invention can equally well be employed with the supply of steam to heat other devices, such as dry ovens and the like, and the specification is to be read with this understanding. Also various structural modifications may be made by those skilled in the art in manufacturing our improved regulator without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention, and we do not wish to be understood as limiting ourselves except as required by the following claims when construed in the light of the prior art;

supply of steam to keep the hot water tank Having thus described our invention, what we claim is:

1. In a device of the character described, a conduit for supplying steam to a hot water tank, a normally closed main valve in said conduit, a steam-pressure-movable member connected to said valve and having a leakport from one side of itself to the other, a chamber for said member at the top of the main valve casing communicating on one side of said member with the inlet side of-said valve and having an outlet from the other side of the member to said conduit atthe delivery side of the valve, an auxiliary valve K controlling the passage of steam from said chamber through said outlet, a cage, an expansion unit in said cage operated by the temperature of water in the tank and connected to' said auxiliary valve to close the same, and a pressure regulating valve in said outlet adapted to be closed by excess pressure on the delivery side oi?" the main valve and thus operate the main valve to close the same.

2. In a device of the character described, a conduit for supplying steam to a hot water tank, a normally closed main valve in said conduit, a fluid-pressure-movable member connected to said valve and having a leakport from one side of. itself to the other, a

- chamber for said member at the top of the main valve casing communicating on one side of said member with the inlet side of said valve, an upwardly extending boss'at the top. of said chamber having a laterally opening outlet therefrom, an auxiliary valve in said outlet controlling the passage of steam from said chamber through said outlet, a cage mounted on the top of said boss, an expansion unit in said cage operated by the temperature of water in the tank and connected to said auxiliary valve through the top of the boss to close said auxiliary valve, and a pressure regulating valve in communication with said outlet and said conduit at the delivery side of the main valveadapted to be closed by excess pressure on the delivery side of the main valve and thus operate the main valve to close the same.

3. In a device of the character described, a conduit for supplying a heating medium to a tank, a normally closed main valve in said conduit, a fluid-pressure-movable member connected to said valve and having a leak port from one side of itself to the other, a chamber for said member communicating on one side of the member with said conduit at the inlet side of the valve and having an outlet from the other side of the member to said conduit at the delivery side of the valve, an auxiliary valve operated by the temperature in said tank tocontrol the passage of heating medium from said chamber through said outlet, and a pressure regulating valve operated by pressure of the heating medium on the delivery side of the main valve to control the passage of heating medium from said chamber through said outlet.

4. In a. device of the character described, a.

-;; mndnit or mpplying a heating medium to a tank, a normally closed main valve in said I duit at the delivery side of the valve, an auxiliary valve for controlling the passage of heating medium from said chamber through said outlet, an expansion unit operated by the temperature in the tank connected to said auxiliary valve to close the same, and a pres- .sure regulating valve in said outlet adapted to be closed by excess pressure on the delivery side of the main valve and thus operate the main valve to close it.

JOHN G. HELMSTAEDTER. FREDERICK J. ,SCHILLING. 

